Wednesday, March 04, 2009

CRC Wants to Tell You How To Raise Your Children!

I am posting this whole article because I got it by e-mail and they haven't posted it on their website yet.

The legal ramifications of this concern me because I already have opposition to my bringing up my kids in the Catholic faith.

I think some of their "possible outcomes" are a tad far-fetched... but then who thought polygamy in Canada would ever even be considered and it is being seriously considered in BC courts at this very time...

Here is the e-mail I received from UFI:

Being a parent is one of the greatest joys we have in this world. Being able to guide, direct, encourage and support your child is what being a parent is all about. That could all come to an end for parents all over the world if the treaty named the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is ratified. Currently, only two countries have not ratified this treaty: the United States and Somalia. This treaty will substantially change the rights parents have to raise their children and will treat the government as an equal partner in the parenting process.

Today, as a parent, you can choose how to educate your child about your religion. You get to decide how to teach them about homosexuality, chastity, morality and abstinence. If you feel that your child needs discipline - you get to decide what that discipline will be and how it will be administered. These are the choices and responsibilities that come with being a parent.

However, the CRC treaty mandates that children will have the right to appeal any of these decisions made by their parents. Parents will not be given the right to teach their children about their religion or impart their moral standards and wisdom. Children can appeal any disciplinary actions that parents want to impose. Government would then decide whether that discipline was appropriate or not.

This should concern all parents! Senator Barbara Boxer, this past December, announced that the CRC would be ratified by the Senate within two years. President Obama announced that by ratifying this treaty we would once again "resume our global leadership in human rights".

During the next two weeks while United Families International is attending the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations, we will be focused on fighting the language contained in this treaty. You can monitor our progress at the CSW blog by clicking here! While we will be focused on issues like abortion and homosexual rights, we will also be working to stop this treaty from being incorporated into the document which will be signed by countries around the world. We will be working to protect the rights of parents to determine how their children will be raised. If protecting your rights is important to you, please consider making a $20, $50 or even $100 donation today to help us continue to protect your family.

Thank You,Beverly RicePresidentUnited Families International

Children's Rights Create Confusion Over the Role of Parent

At every stage of life, there is no greater resource and refuge for a child than the love of a parent. Time and time again, studies have found and affirmed that the nurture and love of parents plays a crucial role in positively shaping the future of their children." - parentalrights.org

The rights of parents to raise and protect their children have been a long standing tradition around the world and in American history. That right is now being threatened! An international attitude of preferring the state over the parent is becoming more pervasive and alarming as more and more activists in the international community seek to transform parental rights into parental responsibilities and then assume it is the right of government to enforce those responsibilities over parent's wishes. This concept has manifested itself into an international treaty called the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC).

Regardless of how well intentioned government may be, it can never replace the love and nurture of a parent in the life of a child.

What Are Children's Rights?

Almost all jurisdictions recognize basic rights for children. Children have a right to have food, shelter, receive education, etc. Legal rights also include the right not to be physically, sexually or emotionally abused. These rights are afforded to all human beings regardless of age. And, no one would deny them. The concern arises when "moral theory" becomes binding law directed by an international treaty.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted at the UN in 1989. All but two member nations have ratified the treaty - one being the United States. The CRC is a treaty that mandates a broad range of rights to children, based on the right to have their "best interests" be "a primary consideration" in every aspect of life; the 'inherent right to life' (Article 6), and the right of a child "who is capable of forming his or her own views ... to express these views freely in all matters affecting the child" (Article 12) (United Nations 1989). What the treaty does not recognize is the difference between basic human rights of a child and the philosophical or moral duties of parents. Children do not have the cognitive skills to determine what is in their "best interest"; societies and governments have left that role to the family...until now.

The End of Parental Rights and National Sovereignty in the US?

In the U.S. the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, is one vote away from ratification. If the treaty is ratified, and all signs are it will be, the U.N., with the support of the Obama Administration and the liberal U.S. Congress, will turn the fundamental unit of society - the family, into government regulated child care.

U.N. treaties are overseen by appointed U.N. commissions that take precedence over national and state law. Imagine the U.S. being ruled by international law designed and implemented by non-elected foreign delegates with no possibility of redress!

United Families is there and poised to monitor the status and suggest changes to the CSW "Agreed Outcome" Document as it makes it way through the process. So far, every indication leads us to believe that the 53rd CSW and the "Agreed Outcome" Document is a ruse for pushing the ratification of two treaties, abortion on demand, and homosexual rights. The CRC and CEDAW (The Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women) are highlighted throughout the Document as key to achieving human rights for women without regard to the rights of parents, nations, cultures and religious beliefs. The initial draft Document includes language that: "urges Governments, in cooperation with the United Nations system to take the following actions: ... b. Ratify without reservations, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including the Optional Protocols thereto, and the concluding comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The CRC treaty creates very specific rights for every child, including social, religious, cultural, economic, etc. Some of these rights are well-intentioned. For instance, the treaty calls on governments to protect the child from sexual abuse and child slavery. It recognizes that parents or legal guardians "have primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child," but in the end parents' decisions can be trumped by government on behalf of "the child's best interest"; whatever that means. Possible Consequences to Ratification of the CRC include:

Every major decision regarding your child will be overseen by your local Child Protective Service Agency through government social workers.

Parents who require their child to go to church, do certain chores, eat certain foods, tend to younger siblings, etc. can be reported to government authorities by their rebellious children.

Children will choose what religion they will join and if and when they will attend services.

Family leisure activities and strictness of chores will be determined by government.

Nations will be required to spend more on child welfare than on national defense.

Religious schools and home schooling may be forced to close down.

Parents will be mandated to keep their children in all sex education classes.

Children will have the right to all reproductive health services, including abortions, without parental knowledge or consent.

The result of such a law has a real possibility of causing mass confusion on the part of families; children being raised without boundaries and parents will parent with fear of reprisal. Child abuse and neglect will no doubt escalate. Orphanages will re-emerge to meet the demand for child placements and children will be removed from their homes in record numbers. An already overburdened and failing child welfare system will create a generation of children with mental health problems and juvenile delinquency. Families are the foundation of society. We must not allow the integrity of the family and parents to be destroyed by senseless government intervention and international laws and norms.

What you Can Do to Stop CRC

Join United Families as we continue our fight to preserve a future for the family.